Rose Weasley, Matchmaker
by Ignorance-Your New Best Friend
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy, womanizer, 22, is dumped by his long-time psycho girlfriend. He tells Rose that he's looking for THE ONE. Rose jumps to the opportunity to help out. But does he already have someone in mind?
1. Drunk

ROSE WEASLEY, MATCHMAKER

Summary: _Scorpius Malfoy, womanizer, twenty-two, is dumped by his long-time - psycho - girlfriend. He tells Rose that he's finally looking for 'The One'. Rose jumps to the opportunity to help out. But does he have anyone in mind?_

CHAPTER 1: DRUNK

Rose was getting ready for her date when Lily rang.

Well, actually, she had been spending hours getting ready for her date. She was just finished getting ready for her date when Lily rang. Which was lucky for Lily, because if Rose hadn't yet been ready, she would have been bombarded with questions.

_Should I wear my hair up or down? What kind of dress should I wear? Is above the knee too slutty? _

Rose was standing in front of the mirror, still not completely sure about her black dress. Maybe it showed a bit too much skin… and the heels… ugh. She looked down at her feet. Could she walk in these all night? But would she _really_ be walking around the entire time? One doesn't normally walk around a restaurant ten times before sitting down…

What awoke her from her thoughts was her mobile phone (a rather annoying device that Lily insisted on her having, even though Lily was the only other person that used it and, naturally, the only person that rang her – along with her mother), which was on her dresser.

"Rose," Lily's voice said when Rose picked it up.

"Yeah?" Rose asked, unable to keep an annoyed tone out of her voice.

There was a pause.

"Is this a bad time?"

Rose frowned at her reflection, and then turned away.

"Why…?" she asked slowly.

"This is a bad time, isn't it? I told him that you'd be busy, that everyone one else in the world has a life. Oh, I'll just get him to call someone else… but that's against the rules-"

"You told _who_ that I'd be busy?" There was a silence. "What is it, Lily?" Rose demanded in a stern tone that she knew her cousin hated.

"You've got a date, haven't you?" Lily asked nervously.

"Yes, I have. What is it?"

"I… you're date will be ruined-"

"Tell me what it is!"

"Heeey, Rosie!"

Rose froze when she heard a deeper, more masculine voice come out of the phone's speaker. She put her hand to her head.

"Scorpius?" she asked with a sigh.

"Get – off – of – my - … Rose? I did not mean for him – I was going to hang up-"

"What are you doing with Scorpius?" Rose asked her cousin suspiciously. A million possibilities came to mind, and she didn't like any of them. Her best friend was a known womaniser, which was fine by her as long as he didn't try any of his 'charm' on anyone Rose knew. It pissed her off if anything. And now Lily was ringing her with a laughing Scorpius in the background…? Rose suddenly felt extremely angry, at both of them, and there was a sick feeling in her stomach…

"Well, I was just coming home from work and I found him drunk on the sidewalk. He's refusing to move unless you come to pick him up."

Rose's stomach calmed down and she let out a breath that she hadn't even known she had been holding. And then she felt angry again, but this time just at Scorpius.

"A Saturday? Is he so deprived of attention that he needs me to babysit him on a _Saturday_? Lily, I have a date with Aden in half an hour. Can't you take him home? Grab onto him and apparate?"

"I don't know where he lives. And I don't want to touch him. He's kind of freaking me out…"

"Rose, I need you to come, I need to-" hiccup "-tell you something."

"Get off of my phone!" Lily's voice returned.

"What about Albus? Call him, he knows where he lives-"

"Rose, he won't answer. Leave Malfoy here, for all I care. I just asked him if there was anything I could do, because, well, you know… if I left him out here you'd hate me forever."

Rose sighed. That was true.

"Fine. I'm coming. Where are you?"

"Diagon Alley. Outside the Leaky Cauldron."

"I should have guessed… fine. I'll be there in a few."

"He's _your_ friend…" Lily reminded her. Rose growled. Reed, her dog, a chocolate cocker-spaniel, looked up from one of her shoes. Rose's eyes widened.

"Bad dog! Bad, bad dog!" she shouted loudly, putting her phone on loud-speaker and getting down on her knees to wrestle one of her ballerinas out of Reed's mouth.

"Reed, right?" Lily's voice asked slowly.

"Very _very_ bad dog! Bad boy!"

"OK. No, Scorpius, she does not mean you."

"_Aha_!" Rose finally said, and then she pouted. "Get out of my sight!" she said, pointing towards the bedroom door. Then she thought again. "The bathroom!" she said in the sternest tone she could muster. "Now!"

But Reed didn't understand English at all, and he just wagged his tail.

"Ugh! Shoo! No, not _shoe_!"

"Wow," Lily's voice said helpfully.

In the end, Rose grabbed Reed by the collar and pulled him into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Why did dad get me a dog again?" she asked Lily, picking the phone up again.

"So you wouldn't get a boyfriend."

"Oh! My date!"

She heard Lily snort lightly, and then she heard something that sounded like a slap.

"Rose, he keeps on trying to grab my arse. Listen, I deal with enough drunks at work."

Lily worked in the Aurors' office, but she had a pretty crappy job now that she got demoted because of a pretty nasty accident involving her father's office and a kilo of Cockroach Clusters.

"Fine, you can leave. I'll be right there. You're free to go. Thanks for calling."

"No problem," Lily said, sounding annoyed. Rose didn't want to imagine what Scorpius was trying to do as the line went dead.

And then she did imagine – a whole load of things.

She pulled off her high heels and rummaged around her closet for a pair of Nike trainers. No luck.

She opened the bathroom door to find Reed in the bath, staring at her.

"I don't even want to know."

When she found her trainers, that had been in her bedroom, she shoved them on without socks and left her flat, grabbing her keys that were by the door.

She looked at her watch. Twenty minutes. Surely she could apparate Scorpius out of the world's way in twenty minutes.

Rose lived in a block of muggle flats in the middle of London – her mother's idea, actually. It wasn't a bad one, either. In the Magical World she was an extremely well-known healer and just met her work all over the place. She didn't mind it – not at all. But it just meant that the stress never ended. In the Muggle World not many people knew her name. Well, Aden knew her name…

Aden was a muggle man that lived on the sixth floor, a floor underneath her. He was twenty five, three years older than Rose, his favourite colour was red, his favourite movie was _North By Northwest ,_he had a subscription to _The Sun_, a muggle newspaper…those were only a few of the many facts he had blurted out in Rose's presence. According to Lily, that had been flirting, and they had started dating three weeks ago. And they had been three wonderful weeks… Aden was everything Rose had dreamed a perfect boyfriend to be. He was kind, caring, smart, funny…

And now she was tiptoeing past his door, hoping that he wouldn't ask where she was going half an hour before their date. Well, he was probably still at work, but Rose didn't take any chances.

Out of the building, she crept into the alleyway that she and her friends used to get to and from her home – one of the downfalls of living in a Muggle neighbourhood. You couldn't just disappear on the spot… her cousin, Fred, had learnt that the hard way.

Diagon Alley was bustling with people. She hoped that nobody would come running at her shouting again as she weaved her way through the dark but lively street.

When she found Scorpius she didn't find it a pleasant sight at all.

He was sitting on the side of the pavement, and people were walking past and looking down at him in disapproving ways. But, somehow, he still managed to look good sitting in the gutter. His pale blond hair was a mess, yet somehow looked perfect – he was slouching but somehow he still managed to show off his perfect build. He didn't look sloppy at all.

And he was poking his right foot with an empty bottle of firewhisky.

_He's _your_ friend_, Lily had said.

"Oh, shut up," Rose muttered to herself as she marched towards him. "Hey, Scor," she said. Scorpius looked up from his feet.

"Rosie!" he said, his speech slurred.

"Oh, great," Rose mumbled when she heard how drunk he was in person.

She hated it when Scorpius was drunk. He wasn't Scorpius anymore. He was this other person that looked like Scorpius but was just a much more vile version of his persona.

Rose saw that Lily had indeed gone as she pulled up Scorpius from the gutter.

"You've gotten all beautiful to come a pick me up, haven't you Rosie?" he asked her, smiling a rather sloppy smile.

"No, I haven't, you big-headed pr-"

"Don't call me names, Rosie!"

"Stop calling me Rosie them!"

He looked at her, and Rose felt that the longer she was stuck her, holding him up (he was extremely heavy, though it was all muscle… she could feel the muscles in his arm and back as she held him), the longer she felt people's critical looks. Rose Weasley, well-known healer, graduated top of her class, daughter of the famous Hermione and Ron Weasley, known amazing war heroes, helping out a drunk Scorpius Malfoy, not-so-good Quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies, son of the infamous Draco Malfoy, known bastard.

Though part of her knew to doubt that everyone would be thinking all that, she was still turning as red as her hair, which she had spent hours in taming into a more or less OK ponytail.

"You touch my hair and your dead," she growled at her drunk best friend as he slowly lifted his arm.

"But it looks so soft, Rosi- Rose."

"Come on, Mr Sober," she said, and apparated them away from everyone staring.

As soon as her feet felt the ground again, Scorpius let out a groan.

"What is-"

Scorpius put a finger on her lips, and she frowned and pushed it away.

"Go home!" she said.

He shook his head frantically.

"No, not to Sarah," he whispered, pointing at the house.

They were standing in a garden, a garden that Rose knew from attending various dinner parties with Scorpius and his girlfriend, Sarah Redwood. But now he was shaking his head frantically and attempting to climb over the little picket fence carefully.

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed.

"She broke up with me," Scorpius said. "We're over."

He fell with a thump over the fence and Rose heard a noise from inside the house. As a reflex, she ducked. Sure, she had been to loads of dinner parties, but those were more for Scorpius' sake than for her own. Actually, she hated Sarah. But she was still sad for them breaking up, of course.

The front door opened, spilling light onto the dark lawn.

Rose breathed in the grass with a groan. Now she was going to be found out lying face down in Sarah Redwood's lawn by the very same (psycho) Sarah Redwood.

But then, she heard the door close… and nothing.

She chanced a look up, and saw that Sarah had gone back inside. On the other side of the fence she heard laughing.

She scowled as she stood up and brushed grass off of her dress. God, if she got grass stains on her, she'd have to spend another hour getting ready for… her date!

She jumped over the fence faster then she'd ever done anything in her life.

"Scorpius!" she hissed at her friend, who was curled in a ball on the pavement underneath a street lamp, laughing hysterically. "Get up!" She was reduced to pulling him off of the ground. "You're getting too old for this!" she snapped. His expression turned sombre, and his grey eyes were suddenly full of sadness.

Rose sighed.

"Listen. I'm sorry about Sarah," she said. "But it's hardly a reason to-"

"Rosie," Scorpius interrupted. "If Sarah breaking up with me isn't a reason to get pissed, I don't know what is."

Rose immediately felt guilty. She wondered how she would feel if Aden left her. Pretty rotten, actually. She might even open a bottle or two…

"OK," she said finally. "Where should I take you?"

"You've got a date, haven't you?" Scorpius asked sadly. He was still 'pissed', as he put it, but when he was sad he sounded more like himself. Rose realized that Scorpius very rarely laughed like he had been laughing just then.

"Yes, I have." Rose looked at her watch. "In ten minutes, actually, so-"

"Just take me home," Scorpius said. "I'll get a bit more pissed there, dad's got a liquor cabinet-"

"Scorpius!"

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. Rose bit her lip.

"Fine," she sighed at last. "If you destroy your liver, that's really none of my concern."

"Really?"

"Really."

Scorpius smirked, and then hiccupped. Rose took his arm – apparating while intoxicated was not a good idea, and kind of illegal. She was glad that he had stayed outside of the Leaky Cauldron rather than leave a leg there, and with Lily the Auror.

They were outside of the gates to Malfoy Manor. Rose couldn't help but shudder when she saw it because of what had happened to her mother, and for who had stayed there. Scorpius had once told her that he didn't like it either. He wasn't completely sure as to why his dad kept the place. Neither was Rose.

She looked at him, and he was looking at the gates sadly.

"Well-"

"Would you dump me?"

Rose blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Would you dump me?" he repeated.

"If I were Sarah…?"

"No, if you were you."

Rose felt uncomfortable.

"I don't understand…"

Scorpius laughed, but he didn't seem very amused.

"Rose, don't do that to me. You're the smartest person I know. After me, of course."

Rose's lip twitched – they had been constant rivals at school, and they still argued about who was the smartest – but something told her not to laugh.

"Well… I'd say that what you mean to say is… would we be good together as a couple."

She waited, ignoring the strange sensation in her stomach, but then he shrugged.

"Maybe…"

Rose remembered that he was drunk, and she mentally slapped herself. He wouldn't be saying this if he were sober.

"You'll be back on your feet in no time," she said, pushing the awkwardness – yes, that had been awkward – behind them and patting him on the back. "Scorpius Malfoy, Slytherin womaniser. A woman a night."

She never approved of his behaviour, obviously, but feeding his ego normally seemed to work. But today he let out a loud exasperated sigh.

"No, Rose, you don't understand," he said, shaking his head, perhaps over exaggerating the shaking bit because of the intoxication. "Sure, that's nice, but it never works on the people that matter, you know?"

"Well, Sarah mattered-"

"And now look. I'm tired of being a 'womanizer'. Why can't I just _be_ with someone, you know?"

Rose did know, and she was speechless.

She had known Scorpius for nearly ten years, and she had been friends with him for nine years. Never had he mentioned the desire to settle down; That was more _her_ idea of a perfect relationship. Never a one-night stand, things that Scorpius had become famous for after graduating from Hogwarts. And now he just wanted to _be_ with someone?

"I'm want _the one._"

Now Rose just stared. She forced herself to speak.

"Um... do you have anyone in mind?"

He laughed, and then fell serious.

"Maybe," he finally answered.

A tugging at her gut told her that she was going to be late. Scorpius was staring at the gate again, looking lost. She decided that she should probably come back to this later, when he was less intoxicated. Maybe this was the alcohol talking. But there had been a touch of honesty to her words… she almost felt sorry for him.

She vowed to herself to help him out – but first, her date.

"Well, I have to go," she said. She felt almost guilty for voicing those words. So she put her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. "We'll sort this out. Get as pissed as you want, pass out, we'll talk about this tomorrow. Preferably in the afternoon."

"You and Aden are that close?"

Rose took a second to realize what he was talking about, and then she blushed a deep shade of red for reasons that were pretty immature. She was twenty-two, and _not_ a virgin.

"That's none of your business!" her voice came out high and squeaky. Not good.

"But you just said-"

"_You might get a hangover_! I didn't think that the morning would be a good time to-"

"Fine. Whatever," Scorpius said, walking towards the gate slowly. Rose watched him, guilt, sympathy and a whole mix of emotions that she didn't quite understand welling up inside of her.

"Scorpius," she said. He turned back. "I really am sorry about Sarah."

"She dumped me because she said that my head was in it."

Rose frowned.

"Pardon?"

"My head was in it," he said, pointing to his head. "My heart wasn't." He pointed at his chest.

Rose couldn't help but feel a little impatient. She was going to be late.

Then she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"We'll talk about this when you're sober," she said.

"My heart was somewhere else," he continued quietly, staring right at her. Rose suddenly felt hot, and she looked behind her. Nope, nobody there. She looked back at her friend, who was close again. Actually, closer than before. A no-go zone, actually. She jumped back in a not-cool fashion. First _what would it be like if we were dating_? And now this? She swallowed uncomfortably.

Scorpius was drunk – there was no doubt about that. She could smell the alcohol on his breath (_Merlin_, he was that close?), and his posture was slanted. There was a dark shadow across his face, and he looked as if he was concentrating on something – maybe that was why he was so close. His blond hair was falling in his eyes, his grey eyes that were staring right into her blue ones. It was making her head feel all … muddled. Her eyes flickered to his lips and then she looked back up to his eyes, her heart rate increasing. She did _not_ just go there. She looked back down and she saw that his lip was curled into a smirk, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Scorpius was her friend. That was it. She, Scorpius and Albus had formed a little Gryffindor/Slytherin Aliance in their second year and had continued with it up to their seventh year. That was it. This was completely confusing, and also all wrong.

"I'm going to be late," she finally managed to whisper, her voice coming out a quiet, high-pitched squeak. She told herself to step backwards – she did.

She watched her friend's reaction uncomfortably. And then he nodded and stepped back too.

"OK," he said. "I'm going to get even more drunk."

* * *

**AN- Yeah, another nextgen fic. But I'll finish this one, I promise! It's gonna be humour/romance/drama, and it's gonna be awesome, I promise! I need to stop promising things... (And no, I have not forgotten about TMTHDM, do not worry my pretties... wait, that sounds creepy...)**

**Please review! **


	2. The Bet

ROSE WEASLEY: MATCHMAKER

Summary: _Scorpius Malfoy, womaniser, twenty-two, is dumped by his long-time – psycho – girlfriend. He tells Rose that he's finally looking for 'The One'. Rose jumps at the opportunity to help out. But does he already have someone in mind?_

CHAPTER 2: THE BET

At the end of the night, when she kissed Aden goodnight, Rose felt almost guilty about completely forgetting about Scorpius.

_It's my life_, she told herself. _He's messed with me enough times, I can have one night before I get sucked into his soap-opera life again_.

"So, did you have a good time?" Aden asked. Aw, he sounded almost nervous.

"Yes, I did," she said.

"Cool," he sighed, relieved. She laughed, and was suddenly – and completely randomly – reminded of what Scorpius had said. _You and Aden are that close_? She was twenty-two…but she wasn't sure whether…

"You know…"

"Hm?" Aden asked at once. He was twenty-five and completely adorable. His short brown hair was sticking up in a completely nerdy way. She saw his eyes flicker towards his flat's door. "Sorry, I just-"

He stopped what he was saying and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Though she was surprised at slowly put her arms around his neck, not breaking the kiss. One of his hands moved to the back of her head, holding her head in place and the other slowly proceeded down her neck. She reached up to grab onto his hair… it took her only seconds to realize that that would be pretty hard, since his hair was hardly grabbable, it was short. But it seemed pretty grabbable as she felt it through her fingers, and it felt so _right_.

He pushed her towards his door, still not breaking the kiss, but then they both had to gasp for air.

"Rosie," he mumbled into her hair. He didn't sound like Aden anymore.

He started kissing her neck and she loosened her grip on his hair. His blond hair…

"Merlin's pants!" she gasped, and pushed him away from her to see Scorpius grinning back at her.

"Rose," his voice said again. Though he was smiling, it sounded like a shout. That was when she realized that she was dreaming, and that was when she woke up to see the one and only Scorpius Malfoy grinning at her. For real.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, jumping in her bed and banging her head on the headboard.

"Having horny dreams about Merlin, I see," he said.

"What the… get out of my bedroom! Get out of my house!"

Scorpius just laughed as she pulled the covers to hide her body – she was in her underwear for heaven's sake!

When she realized that he wasn't going anywhere, she scooted to sit up and wrapped her blankets around her chest. "At least turn around while I get dressed, you perve!" _But at least _he_ hasn't be dreaming about you… _she thought subconsciously. She turned red, hoping that he couldn't read her mind.

"Ah, Rosie, but where's the fun in that?"

"Like I said, _perve_! Go and wait in the living room or I will hex you out of here myself."

"Is there a chance I might see what you're hiding under those covers as you reach for your wand?"

Rose looked at her wand, on her bedside table, and then back at Scorpius, who was smirking cruelly. Her mind flickered back to the dream, and she wished that it wouldn't with all her might. It didn't work.

"Go away!" she repeated, making a point of getting out of bed, wrapping her covers around her making sure that he didn't see _anything_ that she was hiding, and reaching for her wand.

"Fine, sheesh," he said, backing away slowly, the smirk still on his lips. Urgh! Why was he so _annoying_?

As soon as he had left the room she ran to the door and leant against it, her brain going in all sorts of directions. No, she hadn't spent the night with Aden, or… Scorpius? Her heart stopped. She swallowed a yelp – surely that was impossible. That had just been a – rather confusing and meaningless – dream. She jumped away from the door and started getting dressed – she shoved a pair of tracksuit bottoms on and a t-shirt. He had seen her in worse. Maybe less…

"Ahhh…" she moaned to herself, pulling a face and coming out of her bedroom to see Scorpius playing with Reed. Scorpius seemed considerably happier than the last time she saw him, which, she told herself, was yesterday night when she dropped him off at his dad's house.

He looked up and smiled one of his 'womanizer' smiles. Surely she would remember something like…

"How did you get in?" she blurted out.

"Why, through the door, sweetheart," he said. He had been calling her _sweetheart_ since fifth year, and only now did it make her turn red. He didn't seem to notice. "You weren't afraid that I climbed in the window, were you?"

"I… no."

"You know, Muggle security sucks. If a wizard serial killer chooses your place, you're done for-"

"You used Alohamora, didn't you," Rose said, unable to keep the relief out of her voice. And then she boiled with anger. "Don't come into my house while I sleeping!"

"And miss you fantasizing about Merlin in your sleep?" he laughed. "I don't think so, sweetheart."

Rose blushed furiously. If only he knew who she had been fantasiz- no! She hadn't been _fantasizing_ about Scorpius Malfoy!

She rushed over to him and picked up Reed, who seemed upset over not getting his stomach scratched anymore.

"He's supposed to be being punished," she scolded her friend.

"In the bathroom," Scorpius said.

"Yes, in the bathroom!" Rose said angrily.

"With your slippers," Scorpius said.

"Yes with my-" she looked down at her dog, who was staring up at her with his big puppy-dog eyes. "Bad dog! Bad, bad dog! Oh, don't give _me_ that look."

"You talk to your dog," Scorpius smirked. She looked at him.

"Yes, I talk to my dog," Rose answered, trying to stay calm. And then she realized that no, they hadn't spent the night together (thank Merlin), and she remembered saying goodnight to Aden properly, and she knew that Scorpius Malfoy was now in her house at… - she looked at her clock – eight thirty!

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You were supposed to be coming in the afternoon."

"I have training in the afternoon, sweetheart."

"Well, you're supposed to have a hangover."

Scorpius stopped looking so cheerful – and then he put on his smile again.

"I also know where my father's medicinal cabinet is," he shrugged. Rose frowned, but then she couldn't stay mad at him. She put Reed down, and he went back to Scorpius, who put him on his lap. Rose sat down next to him on the small, leather sofa.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. Scorpius shrugged, but he looked depressed.

"No, not at all. Sarah… she was all I had," he said, sitting back. "My career sucks, I can't score points for the life of me-"

"You've got me," Rose put in. "And Albus."

Scorpius' lips twitched.

"I'll be alright, Rosie," he sighed. Rose frowned at him calling her 'Rosie', but she let it go this once. "As long as I got the booze-"

Rose hit him with a pillow.

"I'd say ow, but it didn't hurt- OW!"

Reed jumped from his lap and trotted off.

"You _need_ to stop drinking! You'll turn into an alcoholic!"

"Sweetheart, I _am_ an alcoholic."

Rose hit him again.

"Hey, the first step is admitting it!"

Rose sighed and blew a stray curl out of her eyes.

"Why did you get Lily to call me?" she sighed.

"Why, because you're my best friend. Duh."

"I thought Albus was your best friend," Rose said. She couldn't believe she had just said that – it sounded incredibly childish. But she still waited for an answer.

Scorpius shrugged.

"Yeah, alright, he is." Rose scowled – she couldn't help it. "You're my best _girl_friend," he smirked.

"Oh, grow up!" Rose said, standing up, to hide her face from turning red.

"I have. Quite a lot actually."

She turned back to him.

"On the phone you said that you needed to tell me something."

Now it was Scorpius' turn to blush. Though _he_ made it look hot.

_I did not just think that_.

And then he was pale all over again. The normal, Scorpius hot pale, not the pasty sort of-

_I did __**not**__ just think that!_

"Well, I needed to tell you that I broke up with my girlfriend in case you decided to, I don't know, make a surprise visit." Rose sensed that he was being sarcastic. "I was _drunk_, Rosie. Half the things I said didn't even make sense, I bet."

"Hmm…" Rose said. "So… the thing about… The One." She raised an eyebrow, and Scorpius looked surprised. And then he sat back.

"Well, that _might_ have been true."

"_Might_?"

"Drunk words speak a sober heart."

Rose squirmed uncomfortably. Well, at least when she dropped him off he hadn't _said_ anything to her.

_He just stood a bit close_, she tells herself. _You're getting paranoid_.

"Well, I'll help you," she said finally.

"Hm?"

"I'll help you find _The One_, as you put it."

"Really?" he asked, and Rose couldn't help but notice a small smile on his lips. His lips…

"Well, what are best girlfriends for?" she asked, laughing, now completely ignoring any irrational thought that her brain might have. _Might_.

There was a knock on the door, and Rose jumped a bit.

"Paranoia…" Scorpius sang under his breath. Rose shot him a look, but couldn't stay mad at him for too long.

She got up and walked over to her door. When she opened it, a smile spread across her face.

"Aden," she greeted, and he smiled back.

"Hi," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Listen, I know it's early, but I have to run… I was just wondering if…" he stopped mid-sentence and Rose's stomach dropped. He had spotted Scorpius. Her stomach did another swoop as she felt someone kiss her on the cheek. Her expression must have been priceless (because she didn't see anything else that could be remotely humorous about this situation) and Scorpius let out a laugh from next to her.

She opened her mouth to shout some sort of insult at him – hadn't he seen Aden standing right there? He probably had… and that was probably why he had done it.

"Rose…?" Aden asked slowly, and Scorpius smiled at her innocently, and placed an arm around her. She pushed it off.

"Aden, this is Scorpius," she said, trying to keep her temper in check, though her flaming cheeks might have been a setback. "He's my friend."

Scorpius let out another innocent laugh and he tried to put his arm around her again. She glared daggers at him. Aden just stared.

Oh, Scorpius was going to pay for this…

"Best friend, actually," she said, straightening up. "He's gay."

Scorpius froze next to her and Aden looked relieved.

She fought a triumphant smile. Nobody messed with Rose's relationships! She did a good enough job of that herself…

"Oh, well, OK," Aden said. Rose didn't look to see Scorpius' expression. "Well, I suppose he can come then."

"Come where?" Rose asked immediately. She was _never_ taking Scorpius on a date! Especially after that little number!

"Well, it's one of my friend's birthday, and he's having a big party. We're supposed to invite as many people as we can, so… I though of you."

Rose let out a dreamy sigh.

"That's nice of you, but I don't think that Scorpius can-"

"I'd love to come!" Scorpius interrupted her. Now she looked at him. He was smiling that mischievous/innocent smile that he wore when he new that he was doing wrong and that he was going to get in trouble for it.

"That's cool then," Aden said. "You might meet someone, loads of people are coming, some are gay too."

Rose tried desperately not to laugh as Scorpius smile faltered for about a second. And then he said, " That sounds great. I'll definitely come."

"OK," Aden said. "Well, I'll tell Rose the time and place and she can tell you…"

"Sure," Rose said, still trying not to laugh.

"Well," Aden said, running his hand through his hair. "I've got to get to work."

Rose went on tiptoes and kissed him goodbye.

When he's gone, she notices Scorpius' stony expression.

"I'm sorry, but you deserved it," she shrugged.

"You know that you just promised to help me… what if The One is at that party?"

"Then I'm sure that he'll be all over you."

"Oh, very funny."

"You know, maybe that's why you never found anyone…"

"I am straight, thank you very much. And, if you don't mind, I'm going to stomp out of here angrily. Keep me posted about the party," he said as he left. Rose sighed to herself as she watched him go down the stairs. But she definitely caught a smirk.

"He's bluffing," Albus said, grinning. Rose put down her coffee and shook her head.

"I don't think that he is, Al."

"Scorpius, after just one woman? I never thought I'd see the day…"

They were sitting at a coffee shop in the middle of London. Albus, Scorpius and Rose came here often, but, Scorpius did train on Sunday afternoons, so Albus had brought Lily along, so as not to break the whole 'trio' thing that they always seemed to have going on.

"Well, the day _has_ come," Rose said shortly.

Lily looked uneasy, and Albus grinned again.

"You're excited, aren't you?" he asked.

Rose frowned.

"Well… maybe I am." Lily raised her eyebrows. "What? It's nice to see him want to settle down! I've never liked his gallivanting-"

"Gallivanting? You sound like your mother," Lily laughed.

"But it's true!"

"We know it's true, Rose," Albus said. "I still remember that time in which you didn't speak to him for two months because he started dating Lucy Young."

"He didn't even like her!"

Albus raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Rose demanded. "He told me that he didn't. Besides, I _liked_ Lucy-"

Lily laughed again.

"Weird, I remembered you hating her since first year…"

"Oh, shut up."

Albus and Lily laugh together as Rose angrily tries ignoring them. Scorpius wasn't some sort of sex-fiend! Why couldn't he find someone?

"I'm still not buying it," Albus said again.

Rose clenched her teeth. Scorpius would have a happy ending! Very soon!

"Well, I'll prove it to you," she said.

"Ooh, promising," Lily muttered.

Rose let out an indignant gasp.

"Stop mocking me, Lily Potter!"

"No thank you, Rose Weasley."

Rose made a noise that sounded like a growl, and then she calmed herself down.

"OK then, Potters. I see the little alliance you've formed here. I promise you both that the next woman Scorpius Malfoy locks lips with is his future wife."

Albus let out a snort. So did Lily.

"Good luck," she said, but stopped laughing as soon as Rose shot daggers at her. But even Rose knew that that was probably a little too bold.

"_Fine_!" she said. "The next woman Scorpius Malfoy locks lips with _sober_ will be his future wife! And he'll know that it's her before kissing her. And the kiss will be anticipated, and…" she trailed off and stopped talking. Why on _Earth_ was she blushing?

This time Albus didn't snort, but he still looked vaguely amused.

"I don't know, Rose," Lily said. "Why don't we make this interesting?"

"Isn't it interesting enough already?"

Rose never saw the point in real betting. And that had nothing to do with the fact that she always seemed to loose.

Lily shook her head.

"No, it's not fun if there aren't any stakes involved. If the next woman Scorpius Malfoy locks lips with _sober_ turns out to be the last woman Scorpius Malfoy locks lips with, Al and I will bake you a cake."

Rose frowned.

"What?"

"Sorry, Lils, that sucked," Albus said to his sister, laughing. Lily shrugged. "How about we stop stealing the books that you're currently reading from your bedside table?"

Rose's mouth fell open.

"That's _you_? I thought that Reed was eating them!"

"You're dog eats books now?"

"Well, apparently he doesn't. And you stopping doing that is a really bad condition. I don't need _stakes_ to prove to you both that I'm right, and that Scorpius was telling me the truth."

"The _drunk_ truth," Lily said, unimpressed.

"You're defending his honour, now?" Albus asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You two are both ridiculous," Rose huffed. Lily was laughing at her brother's eyebrows.

"You know what's ridiculous?" Albus asked, and Lily stopped laughing to argue but it was too late. "You're face." He grinned at both of them.

"Al, that joke was only funny the _first_ time," Lily groaned.

Albus rolled his eyes.

"And maybe the second time," Lily then added.

"OK, this is getting boring," he said, banging his fists on the table so suddenly he made Rose jump. "_Bet_. If he kisses a girl sober, and she _doesn't_ turn out to be the love of his life, you have to kiss him," he said to Rose. Rose froze.

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"It's the bet. And if she is, then me and Lily have to kiss him."

"At the same time?" Rose asked slowly, but Lily was staring at her brother in disgust.

"No!" she said. "What? What is wrong with you?"

"Yeah," Rose put in, still confused, "Besides, won't the love of his life be slightly disturbed…"

"She doesn't have to know about it," Albus shrugged before turning to his sister. "Lils, we're going to win. This is just to make Rose agree to it."

"But I don't want to agree to it!" Rose said.

"Then you obviously don't believe that Scorpius can do it."

"But I _do_! The bet is just _frivolous_…"

"You're face is frivolous-"

"_Shut up_!" Lily snapped at her brother. She paused. "And I'm in."

Rose gasped. No! Lily was supposed to be against it!

"It's not going to happen," Lily smirked. "Besides, it would be funny to see you kiss him," she added.

"_Funny_?" Rose asked in a deadly voice.

Albus sat forward.

"Rose," he said diplomatically. "Are you in?"

Rose was gob-smacked. Was his faith in his best friend so small? She felt sorry for Scorpius. What kind of friend was her cousin? She was going to prove Albus wrong, and watch Scorpius' expression when both Albus and Lily kissed him. She wondered if the love of his life would mind…?

"I'm in."

**Hey guys! Sorry for how long it's taken me to update! Thank you so much to LMGfly, kurofsky, thestarlitrose, anoneemous and ooh shinyyy for reviewing! (kurofsky: yup, paramore ARE epic, yay to you for spotting my name! And it's the most played song on my iTunes too! Spooky... hope you don't mind me using "Drunk words speak a sober heart" in this chapter, but it was too good to NOT put it in here ...)**

**Well, I'm a lousy updater and I'm sorry, but it's the computers' fault, they all hate me! But your reviews really push me towards writing more! :D**


	3. Raising The Stakes

ROSE WEASLEY: MATCHMAKER

Summary: _Scorpius Malfoy, womaniser, twenty-two, is dumped by his long-time – psycho – girlfriend. He tells Rose that he's finally looking for 'The One'. Rose jumps at the opportunity to help out. But does he already have someone in mind?_

CHAPTER 3: RAISING THE STAKES

Rose woke up on Monday morning half suspecting to see Scorpius lingering over her again – she let out a deep breath when she realized that she wasn't alone. Thank Merlin.

She hadn't had another dream about him, but the first dream was enough to scar her for the rest of her life.

She got a shower and then got dressed. She had stopped trying to tame her hair for work a long time ago. She figured, patients don't really care what your hair looks like if they're half dead.

It was early, early enough for her to take Reed out. So she did.

She took him around the block once, and the sun wasn't even up yet. When she got back to her block of flats, everything was tinged an orange colour. She was still on time.

At home again, she had her breakfast and then cleared the table.

She brushed her teeth, put on a bit of makeup and patted her work-skirt straight.

She was heading out of her house when she noticed something. An owl, tapping on her window.

Why did everyone but her mother seem to forget that she lived in a Muggle neighbourhood?

Cursing under her breath and moving Reed out of the way with her foot (it wasn't _technically_ kicking) she opened the window, grabbed what it was carrying and closed it again. Reed hated birds of any sort, something that she saw as kind of anticlimactic. She often wondered why her father had never thought of that, and she would always think of her mother saying, 'You're father never thinks, dear.'

The letter was from Albus, and there was something else… a copy of _Witch Weekly_. A new one.

"What the…?" she asked herself when she saw the front cover. Then her face turned as red as her hair. "Oh dear," she muttered nervously.

There was a photo of Scorpius on the front. She remembered that photo – she had been at the photoshoot, battling off fanatic fangirls. In this particular photo, he was shirtless, and smirking his womaniser smile at the camera. But at the bottom of the page there was a caption that read: GAY. OUT OF THE BROOM CLOSET.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Rose said as soon as she saw Scorpius. He was leaning against her office door, holding what she guessed to be _Witch Weekly_. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie that was pulled up over his head, but it failed to hide the light blond hair underneath. Rose spotted him a mile away, and he looked pissed. "I really am, I had no idea-"

"What?" he asked, standing up straight and glaring at her. "That I was gay? I didn't know either. Though, now that I think about it, _you_ did remind me yesterday."

"You're mad," Rose acknowledged worriedly, wringing her hands together.

"Heck yes I'm bloody mad!" was his answer. "Who else did you tell?"

Rose looked around. There were healers walking up and down the corridor, a few looking at Scorpius and giggling. He didn't seem glad for the attention, something that was pretty rare.

"I've been hit on by three guys this morning! Three!"

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't me!"

"Who was it then? Don't tell me that you're Muggle boyfriend has some gay wizard friends."

"I don't know, alright?" Rose defended, moving past him to open her office door. Once inside, Scorpius pulled his hood down to run a hand through his messy hair.

"Having your Muggle boyfriend think I was gay was rather bad, but this is worse! How am I supposed to get near to any woman anywhere?"

"You're not famous in the Muggle world, so I doubt…"

"I'm not getting a Muggle girlfriend, I don't care how in style it is!"

"That's rather racist," Rose couldn't help herself say.

"Racist, smacist. I DON'T CARE. The world thinks I'm bloody gay."

Rose felt immensely guilty. Not that she had anything against gays, but if Scorpius was straight and he was looking for The One, finding her was going to be much more difficult now. What if Scorpius threw himself at the first girl that he saw out of helplessness? What about the bet? Oh…

"What are you thinking about?" Scorpius awoke her from her thoughts and she jumped.

"Nothing," she said quickly, sitting down behind her desk, trying to rub the images of her kissing Scorpius out of her mind.

"You had that embarrassed look on your face. You still have it-"

"Are you sure it's not a disgusted look?" Rose interrupted hopefully.

"So you're a homophobe now?" Scorpius asked, looking offended and backing away. "Well, if that's how you feel…"

"I thought that you were angry," Rose frowned.

"I can't be sarcastic _and_ angry?" he asked. "Fix this."

Rose raised her arms helplessly.

"How?"

"Kiss me."

Rose blinked, unsure of what she had heard. He was staring down at her from the other side of the desk, his grey eyes piercing her, expectant, waiting for an answer. His blond hair was falling over his eyes and he looked… sexy. Scorpius always looks sexy, she reminded herself. Wait a second… was she really having this conversation in her head?

She blinked again.

"Kiss you?"

She was proud of herself for speaking such a long sentence with such a casual voice. Thank Merlin Scorpius wasn't a leglimense.

He jumped away at the question, surprised.

"What? No!"

Rose turned even redder when he put on his womaniser smile.

"But, if you want-"

"I don't. Want. I mean… just no, alright?" she asked, her thoughts muddled. She hated it when that happened. And it nearly never happened. Today wasn't a good day.

"I said _help me_," Scorpius clarified, and there was too long a pause. He smiled coyly, and Rose was getting sick of his coy, womaniser smiles. "But the kissing thing isn't a bad idea…"

"Forget it," She interrupted, looking down at her papers, trying to look disinterested. Which she was. Merlin, she hadn't had an awkward conversation with a sober Scorpius this awkward since fifth year of Hogwarts, when he had suddenly called her sweetheart. Well, actually, it was only a one-way awkward, because Scorpius didn't seem perturbed in the least.

"Hey, it was _your_ idea, sweetheart," he defended, sitting down in the chair in front of Rose's wooden desk. He picked up a quill and started examining it, looking thoughtful. "But, if you kissed me, then everyone would see that I was straight…"

"I said _forget_ it," Rose repeated. Her heart was beating fast against her ribcage, and her stomach was fluttering unfairly. "I'm _not_ going to kiss you." Besides, if she kissed him, she would lose the bet, and then she would have to kiss him again… and that was a bad thing…

"Fine. Your loss."

"I know," Rose sighed. They had had this discussion a million times – always playfully, of course – but _today_ she felt _awkward_. Bleurgh.

Scorpius seemed to have calmed down.

"So, when does the matchmaking begin?" he asked lazily.

"What?"

"The matchmaking. When do I await my first contestant?" He rubbed his hands together.

"It _isn't_ a game," Rose said angrily, putting her papers down and leaning forward. "Lesson number one: women are people too."

"Ooh, lessons," Scorpius said, sitting forward enthusiastically. "This reminds me of Hogwarts. What's lesson number two?"

"Go home. I'm working."

"You're kidding. I come here for _help_ because of you and you kick me out?"

"I'm _working_," Rose repeated sternly, glaring at him. He should know that work is way up there, and before his problems – especially when Rose felt awkward and just wanted him to go away.

"Fine," Scorpius said, standing up, much to Rose's relief. _What is wrong with you?_ "So, when is lesson number two?"

He's still not leaving.

"Oh, I don't know…"

"You know your timetable off by heart."

How can he use that against her? It's a good thing!

"It depends if I get a case or not."

"Well then, don't."

"I can't choose who gets sick and what of," Rose reminded him. He shrugged.

"_I_ can't walk in a busy street until this gets sorted out," he said, pointing to the magazine. Shirtless-Scorpius winked at her. She ignored it.

"Oh, shut up, you're not _that_ famous…"

"For Quidditch. I _am_ famous for my amazingly good looks. Why else do you think I'm in _Witch Weekly_?" He waved the magazine around, and then put the photo him next to his own face, and he smiled the same womaniser smile. Rose looked unimpressed.

"Lesson number two:," she started, and Scorpius raised his eyebrows, as did the picture Scorpius. It was kind of scary. "Stop it with the womaniser smiles."

"Womaniser smiles?" he asked innocently, feigning surprise. "Why, Rosie, which one do you mean?"

"You _know_ which one I mean," Rose said, looking back down at her papers, trying to find a case that was interesting and that no one but her could solve, as she continued lecturing him. "The one that makes women melt. And don't call me _Rosie_."

Scorpius lowered the magazine, looking amused.

"Does it make _you_ melt?"

Rose looked up tiredly, and he put on the smile. So he _did_ know which one it was.

But the smile was so old, she had seen it so many times before, that it _hardly_ made her melt. His eyes, though… in her dream, she had run her hands through that hair… _Stop it!_

"No, not really," she answered before looking back down at her files. She was extremely glad at that being _kind of_ the truth.

"Well, I suppose you don't really count, you're _hardly_ a woman-"

"Stop looking at my chest," Rose interrupted. She had sensed where the conversation had been going and she was now glaring at him.

He shrugged.

"Not much to look at."

"Get out of my office!"

She said it in such a voice that Scorpius rethought answering.

"Another time, then," he finally said. "If I get taken by fanatic gay fanboys, I'm blaming it entirely on you."

"I don't care." Rose was past feeling sorry for him, he was just being an arse now, and she tended to ignore him when this happened. And she was not in the mood today.

"Are you going to come and see me train this afternoon?" he then asked.

"Probably not." She didn't want to encourage his arseness.

"Fine. Thanks for the support."

"You don't need my support. You're head is big enough as it is."

"_Fine_," Scorpius finally sighed exasperatedly. Rose watched him wink at her and pull his hood up before leaving her office.

xxx

When Rose was little, she had loved fairytales. Albus's aunt Hermione used to read her children Muggle fairytales along with his uncle Ron's normal ones, and Rose had simply _adored_ them. Before saying that they were all a load of bollocks, that happy endings didn't exist and before moving onto the really big novels that she and Albus could share.

But, though Rose didn't believe in fairytales anymore, there were still traces that they had left behind inside of her. She rarely ever talked about it or admitted it, but she _did_ believe in happy endings, and White Knights and all of that other 'bollocks'.

And that was why Albus was finding it difficult to believe in her announcement over their friend.

"So you're gay now?" Albus greeted Scorpius, who was just out of the locker room after training. Scorpius looked surprised at first, and then he scowled.

"Shut it," he muttered before shouldering his training rucksack and marching forward. Albus followed, grinning. He technically wasn't allowed in the stadium… ever, but he was great at sneaking in. And that really just meant charming the guard at the entrance who, today, and luckily for him, was a rather attractive young woman.

"Listen, I know that it's not true," Albus confessed to his friend. Scorpius looked at him snottily. "Rose told us about the 'gay' thing yesterday. I just wonder how it got out."

"Me too," Scorpius grunted.

"Do you want to get anything to drink?"

"I don't know. It might be seen as a _date_." He then turned to his dark-haired friend, as if only just seeing him. "Actually, we _can't_ be seen together."

"You can't be serious."

"You're right," Scorpius sighed. "I'm not. And I need a drink. The Leaky Cauldron?"

"Sure," Albus shrugged, grinning. "Are you still afraid of the Underground?" he asked, gesturing to the nearest entrance, and the people bustling in and out of it. Scorpius looked indignant.

"I was never _afraid_ of it," he defended. "It was just… different, alright?"

Albus grinned.

"Sure…"

"You know, today isn't a good day," Scorpius said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a moan. "_I'm_ normally the one making fun of _you_."

"Aw, don't worry, everything will be back to normal as soon as I'm in all the papers with a caption saying 'Malfoys and Potters unite through gay marriage'."

"That really isn't funny," Scorpius said.

Albus pulled a face, the realization of what he had just said hitting him. "It isn't, is it? OK, I'll stop with the jokes. You're better at being mean."

This seemed to lighten Scorpius' mood.

"Why thank you."

xxx

"Hey, you know what you should do?" Albus asked him once they were on a train that would take them to the centre of London. He didn't like apparating, but he loved watching Scorpius casually hold on to the nearest bar as hard as he possibly could. He was earning a few odd looks, and the broom under his arm was too. "Kiss a girl. You know, to prove that you're straight."

Yeah… he definitely had the Bet in mind. In fact, he didn't think that he would be likely to forget about it.

"You're cousin did seem a bit enthusiastic about that certain idea," Scorpius pondered, turning momentarily white as the compartment jerked, turning a corner.

"Rose? No she didn't," Albus laughed.

"Well, it was _her_ idea."

"Who did she propose?" Albus asked, eager to know who Rose's first contestant. Scorpius gave him a strange look, but then he smirked.

"Herself, of course. But, then she denied it of course…"

Albus rolled his eyes before asking the next question, the one he had been meaning to get to.

"So, is what she told us true? Is Scorpius Malfoy finally going after just one girl?"

"Rose told you that?" Scorpius asked, surprised, though the surprise could have been from watching the doors slide open and more Muggles pour into the compartment. Albus _did_ detect a hint of betrayal in his best friend's voice as his broom earned some more odd looks.

"Hey, calm down. Are you forgetting that we used to be a _trio_?"

"We still are," Scorpius announced, the muscles in his arm tensing as the underground train started again. "The three of us just don't hang out as often." Albus raised an eyebrow, and Scorpius sighed. "At all."

"But it's true? She wasn't lying? _You_ weren't lying?"

Scorpius shrugged, and was about to say something when Albus got hit in the face by what seemed to be a Weasley product.

It was one of those 'weapons' that you could use in a Muggle environment without being 'detected'. Albus, Scorpius and any other wizard could see it for what it really was – a frizzing whizbee – and, if Albus could remember correctly, the Muggles probably saw a Muggle Frisbee; a strange thing to have on the Underground, but never mind that.

"Arg!" Albus exclaimed as Scorpius grabbed it and shoved it in hi rucksack quickly. The passengers watched the scene, confused, except for a rather angry teenage girl, who marched up to Scorpius and grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him.

Albus watched the scene in shock as the seconds ticked past, not completely sure of what was going on, until the girl let go of Scorpius with a triumphant look on her face.

"_Think_ about changing teams next time," she told him before patting him on the cheek and marching off smirking, back to a group of giggling girls. "I _told_ you that I would do it…"

The train came to a stop. It was the young men's stop, but Albus was still confused. Scorpius grabbed his arm and pulled him out, his mouth red from lipstick.

That was when Albus broke into laughter.

"What… was … _that_?" he asked, holding his sides from laughter. Muggles walking by stared at them, but Albus was more than used to it now.

"_I_ didn't find it funny at all. I could be arrested… she looked about fifteen!" Scorpius said, wiping his mouth desperately with his sleeve. "That was _not_ cool!"

Albus recomposed himself.

"You're right. That was wrong. I'm going to kill uncle George next time I see him."

"The invention was quite ingenious," Scorpius admitted. " You're telling me that you never thought of it being used against you?"

"I did. Just not by a psycho Scorpius Malfoy fangirl on the Underground."

Scorpius looked around, as if remembering where he was.

"Let's get out of here."

xxx

Rose was at her break, half an hour before finishing work, in the hospital canteen when her mobile rang. She always wondered why she brought it to work with her, but when she saw who was calling, she picked it up.

"Albus? This has to be the first time you've ever called me."

"Hi to you too," Albus's voice said. "You'll never guess what just happened…"

In that instant, Rose saw a familiar red head come running up towards her. She was starting to get pissed at everyone coming to Saint Mungos. It was her family-free place!

Because Scorpius was her family too.

_Nothing_ more.

"Rose! Rose!" Lily said excitedly, sitting in front of her cousin and taking Rose's apple from her tray.

"Help yourself," Rose muttered.

"Is that my sister?" Albus asked.

"Who you talking to?" Lily asked, her voice muffled and her cheeks full of apple.

Rose sighed exasperatedly and put her phone on loudspeaker before placing it on the table. She pulled her food tray towards her and glared at Lily.

"It's Albus," she told her.

"Oh, hi Albus!"

"Hi, Lily. Guess what you two-"

Lily's eyes widened, as if remembering something, and she hit the table, muffling whatever Albus was trying to say.

"You lost the bet!" she said to Rose.

Rose immediately paled.

"What? Why? How? When? I don't… no! That's not fair!"

Rose's thoughts went on overdrive. Oh Merlin, she was going to have to kiss Scorpius! And the bet! This sucked! That was the last time she was ever sticking up for him being a decent person… her father could glare at him all he wanted. Oh, the kiss didn't have to last too long, did it? A small peck, maybe she could make it seem casual…

"How do you know?" Albus' voice asked from the phone.

"Who, me?" Lily asked. "Oh, I heard about it at work."

"It happened ten minutes ago."

"Work is a very busy place for this Potter," Lily said. "Why aren't you at- oh, wait, you don't _have_ a work place!"

"Shut it, Lily! I was being nice!"

"I'm your sister, I'm _supposed_ to-"

"Will you please tell me how and why I lost?" Rose interrupted desperately. She couldn't stand Lily and Albus' banters, even though she knew that her banters with Hugo were probably as bad.

"I'll explain it!" Albus said. "And before you say anything, Lily, I was there!"

This shut Lily up. Albus told Rose what had happened whilst a feeling of dread grew in her stomach. She could hardly hear a word he said. She was too busy wondering how exactly she was supposed to kiss Scorpius… and when. Oh, Merlin, not anytime soon! Gah… _just a peck on the lips! Nothing serious_!

"… And that, dear cousin, is how you lost. He was _completely_ sober, may I add-"

"Oh…" Rose groaned, pushing her food tray away from her. The butterflies in her stomach had made her lose her appetite. Lily took Rose's food tray happily and started helping herself to some chips.

"But," Albus' voice suddenly said, "I don't think that it counts."

Lily's mouth dropped open, revealing what was inside. Rose grimaced and Lily shut it again.

"How?" Lily demanded. "He kissed someone else! A _teenager_! And I doubt that he thought that she was _The One_." Rose didn't like how Lily said 'The One'. It sounded like she was mocking Scorpius… oh, wait, Rose didn't care!

"_He_ didn't kiss _her_," Albus said. "In my state of shock, I was watching quite closely-"

"Pervert," Lily muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!"

But Rose wasn't listening. She was trying too hard not to jump for joy.

She didn't have to kiss Scorpius! The butterflies in her stomach calmed down enough for her to say, "Thanks, Al. For being a perve."

"Oh, come on! I'm not a perve! Thanks to you, everyone thinks that I'm his _boyfriend_, so you better-"

But Rose pushed the red button. Probably her favourite button on the small machine.

"I want to be there when he explains it to Tara," Lily smiled. "She's going to go ballistic." Tara was Albus's girlfriend. Rose failed to see Tara going ballistic, since she was a bit of a hippie. In fact, Tara reminded Rose a lot of Lily _Luna_'s namesake.

"I don't think so. She'll probably know that it isn't true."

"Oh, wait to spoil the fun," Lily mumbled. Then she glared at her cousin. "You got out of it!" she said.

Rose let out a sigh of relief.

"Yup," she said happily.

"What time do you finish work?" Lily then asked.

"Um…" Rose looked at her watch. "Actually, I finish late tonight. There's the witch, we still haven't figured out what's wrong with her. She pukes rainbows… it's too strange. Every time she does, she turns greyer. Nothing we do makes her feel better, the stuff coming out of the other end is a different colour everytime-"

Lily put her hand up and grimaced.

"Ew. TMI. What did I tell you about telling me about your work?"

Rose shrugged and helped herself to a chip. Lily turned an odd colour before standing up.

"Well… I'm going home."

"So soon? I was wondering if you'd like to meet her-"

"No thanks!" Lily said all to quickly. "I've got… paperwork. Yeah. Loads of it. Bye."

Rose smirked to herself as her cousin retreated.

She always had fun making up patients to get Lily to go away. Really, she was finishing in half an hour. She had worked in emergencies all day because there was nothing particularly special going about.

When she reached out for her phone, it rang. _Weird_, Rose thought, but it was Albus again. She debated whether to pick it up or not, but in the end, she did.

"I don't know how this thing works, how do I know-"

"Scorpius?" Rose asked.

"Rose! OK, it works. Hey, me and Al were saying that it's been a while since the trio hung out, just the three of us. We've had our guy talk, so, do you want to meet us in The Leaky Cauldron?"

Rose thought about it – for about a second.

"Sure. I finish in half an hour. See you then?"

"Alright, sweetheart. See you then."

xxx

"You're _actually_ doing this?" Albus asked, staring at Scorpius and Rose. Rose was holding up a mirror in front of him and showing him how to smile properly, without making it looked like he wanted to have sex with anyone he smiled at. It was hard.

"How many times do we have to… is this alright?"

Rose studied her friend's face before shaking her head.

"You look like you want to kill me."

Albus let out a loud snort and brought his butterbeer to his lips. He was sitting between them, watching with amusement. Part of Rose wished that he would go away. It always used to happen in Hogwarts, but the other way around. Scorpius was stare at Albus whilst Rose helped him study, making Albus uncomfortable. Maybe this was payback.

"No then," Scorpius sighed, sitting back and scowling at the Potter.

"It's not my fault you can't smile properly!" Rose said.

"How do I smile at you?"

"I… properly, I suppose."

"Well then," he said, smiling at her. "There." His face fell, and Rose raised her eyebrows.

"I'm bored of smiling. I do it for a living and my cheeks hurt."

Rose sighed and put her mirror back in her bag.

"Well, it was an improvement," she said.

"What improvement? He smiled at you like he always does!" Albus said.

"Shut up," Rose and Scorpius warned angrily. Rose was angry at not making progress – Scorpius just didn't want to smile any longer.

Albus chuckled.

"Rose, you're making love painful. You're not supposed to train him, he's just supposed to find the right person and she – or he –"

"Shove off-"

"-will like him for who he is."

"Since when did _you_ become an expert?" Rose asked her cousin suspiciously.

"Since I managed to maintain a relationship for three years whilst the both of you have been failing miserably."

"Ouch," Rose muttered.

"Not cool," Scorpius said before chugging a rather large amount of butterbeer. Rose scowled at her cousin – at least he had the decency to look guilty.

"Hey, Scor, can you get us some more drinks?" Albus suddenly asked.

"Only because I've finished mine," Scorpius grumbled, standing up.

"Leave him alone," Rose said as soon as the Malfoy was out of earshot. "He's having a bad day."

Albus shook his head. "Rose, you hung up before I could go more into the subject."

"The… subject?"

"The bet," Albus clarified. Rose had known what he meant. She just wanted to buy some time so that Scorpius could come back and they could leave it. But no, Albus was too quick. "Since I let you off-"

"_You_ let me off?" Rose interrupted, her eyes flickering towards Scorpius, who was still at the bar.

"-We're raising the stakes."

"Why?" Rose asked, but Albus ignored her. He knew her game too well.

"A minute," he said as Scorpius started walking back towards them with three full mugs of butterbeer. Rose didn't like her cousin's evil grin.

"What a minute?"

"You know," Albus said, still grinning. Rose looked over at Scorpius. He had just got stopped by a witch.

"Well then I'll just kiss him now for a second!" she said, not liking the sixty seconds arrangement at all.

Albus pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"But then you'd loose the bet. Is your faith in him as thin as Lily's and mine?"

"That's not fair!"

He had just kissed a girl this afternoon! _She kissed him_. Rose looked at Scorpius, who was looking slightly happier having probably granted someone an autograph.

Albus raised his eyes expectantly at his cousin as Scorpius took his seat. A happy Scorpius. Rose watched him carefully before turning to Albus.

"_Fine_."

**I know, not much matchmaking yet, but soon! Thanks to everyone for reviewing: percy'shellokitty, midnightstar96, beautifly, ooh shinyyy, Roseweasley85, kurofsky, and thestarlitrose!**

******And I'm a lousy updater! Sue me!**  



	4. When Do I Actually Get A Date?

**I suck at updating! Yeah. Surprise, surprise. I bet that none of you could have guessed that. But, I think that if I updated sooner, with all of my homework, being ill, ect, I'd probably have a mental breakdown. Sorry guys! It's my sanity over the story!**

Summary: _Scorpius Malfoy, womaniser, twenty-two, is dumped by his long-time – psycho – girlfriend. He tells Rose that he's finally looking for 'The One'. Rose jumps at the opportunity to help out. But does he already have someone in mind?_

CHAPTER 4: WHEN DO I ACTUALLY GET A DATE?

Rose ran – yes, actually _ran_ – up to Malfoy Manor, and waited at the entrance with all the patience she could muster.

She rushed through as soon as the gates would let her, and Astoria Malfoy opened the front door, a surprised look on her face. Rose ignored it.

"Hello, Mrs Malfoy, where's your son?"

"I… in his room, I suppose-"

"Thanks," Rose said, and Astoria moved out of the way as Rose dashed past her.

Scorpius was lying on his bed, just staring at the ceiling and listening to a Muggle CD he had stolen from Albus because the front cover had made him laugh. It sucked.

He jumped violently when his bedroom door burst open, without a knock or anything.

"Hey!" he said. "I could have been _naked_ in here!"

Rose opened and closed her mouth.

"Yeah. Makes you think, doesn't it?" he asked grimly. Then he fully realized who it was, and he grinned. "I bet you secretly wanted-"

"OK, shut up," Rose interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. Scorpius did as he was told. Rose was obviously pissed over something… "Is what Albus told me true?" she demanded.

Ah…

"What?" Scorpius asked. "That I have a date?"

Rose gasped.

"You admit it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Scorpius said, getting off of his bed. "Did I miss something? It's not _illegal_ for me to have a date."

"With _Georgina Davis_!" Rose said. "The underwear model!" Scorpius obviously couldn't hide a smug smirk. "And I'm sure that she's been in a _muggle_ porno or two…" She saw that this wasn't getting to him. "I… She's going to be all _over_ you!"

"So what?" Scorpius shrugged. Rose glared at him, and he sighed. "Listen, she has to be the only… _attractive,_" he looked pointedly at his friend, "person that doesn't seem to mind the fact that the entire World thinks I'm gay…" He drawled out the word 'gay' intentionally, but Rose didn't even flinch.

"That's because she's a whore!" Rose said, obviously trying hard to keep her voice level.

"Jealous, Rosie?" Scorpius smirked, though trying to keep the curiosity out of his voice. She didn't answer – of course – but she did turn pink.

"What's the point in helping you find The One at all," she began, annoyed, "If you're only going to go out with the first floosy that crosses your path?"

"_Floosy_?" Scorpius asked.

"I mean, why bother at all?" she continued.

"Oh, Rosie, you know how it is." Rose's expression showed that she didn't know how it was. Not at all. He hesitated before rolling his eyes and saying, "It's been, what? A month?"

Rose stared. "A _week_." She said. "You and Sarah finished a week ago."

"A week," he shrugged indifferently. "A _week_ without-" Rose raised an eyebrow. "-intercourse," Scorpius finished. "I'm a guy. Guys need-"

"Brains?" Rose finished.

"No," Scorpius said dryly. "What about your Aden? How well is he holding up?"

"Very well, thank you," Rose snapped. "He happens to not be an _animal_. Wait- why are we changing the subject? You _can't_ go out with her!"

"Why not? What if it's love at first sight?"

"You've met her."

"Fine. _Second_ sight."

Rose arched an eyebrow. "You've _definitely_ slept with her."

"Have I?" Scorpius asked, frowning. "Oh, yeah… Fine. Love at second-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Rose interrupted. "You can't go out with her, and that's final."

Scorpius was beginning to get annoyed. Who was she, his mother? No, not even his mother was this strict. Astoria disapproved of his… _behaviour_, but she didn't outright shout at him not to go out. Why couldn't Rose just leave it alone? It wasn't as if her stupid help was working at all.

"You're being absolutely no help at all, Rosie. What do you expect?"

"_Longer_ than a week!"

"In a week we've managed what exactly?" Scorpius's voice was rising unintentionally – he couldn't help it. "Me _smiling_ properly-"

"Hey, that's good progress!"

"-And nice manners! _Albus_ has managed to get me a date…"

The expression on Rose's face made Scorpius stop talking.

"What?" he asked, confused. She swallowed.

"_Al_ set you up with Georgina Davis?" Her voice was deadly.

"Um… yup."

Rose seemed to be having an inner battle. It was fun to watch. She stepped towards the door, then back into the room, then towards Scorpius, then back to the door again…

"We'll talk later," she finally said, and marched out of the room with an air of determination.

"Not likely…" Scorpius muttered to himself.

Seconds later Rose appeared once more in his doorway, a frown altering her features. She opened her mouth and closed it again, before asking,

"_Why_ are you listening to Lady Gaga?"

xxx

"You are so dead," Rose said as the door swung open. "Oops, sorry Tara."

"Oh, hi Rose," Tara said, smiling warmly. Rose was about to ask for her cousin when she realized something.

"Your hair…"

"It's pink," Tara smiled, twirling a lock with a slender finger.

"Yeah…" Rose said, confused.

"Teddy helped me."

"Oh. He did, did he?" Rose asked, before shaking her head. "Whatever, it looks great on you. Oh, not _whatever_, but… Where's Al?"

Tara raised her eyebrows. "Do you need to kill him?"

"Well… yes."

"He's in the living room."

Albus lived with Tara. Not a big surprise. They had been dating for _years_ now. They weren't married only because Tara didn't believe in that kind of thing. Rose knew that it bothered Albus, but right now she couldn't really care.

"You," she said, taking the book he was reading out of his hands.

"Me," Albus said slowly. He was wearing his reading glasses, and he looked exhausted. "Is it time for bed now?"

"What? No! You set Scorpius up on a date!"

"I told you already, Rosie," Albus said, trying to get his book back. Rose put it behind her back.

"No. You told me he had a date. Not that you _had_ arranged it!"

"Details, details."

"Tea, Rose?" Tara asked from the doorway.

"I… Yes, please," Rose answered.

"I don't want any," Albus said quickly. Tara smiled and shook her head.

"Nonsense, silly," she said with her teeth clenched. Rose watched her carefully. "I'll get you some right away."

Tara nodded to herself and retreated into the kitchen. Then she turned back to Albus, who had his eyes closed. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm tired," Albus said, massaging his head.

"Why? It's like, three in the afternoon."

Albus motioned for her to come closer. She did.

"Me and Tara were up all night-"

"Oh, TMI!"

"_Fighting_," Albus finished, frowning at her. "You have a dirty mind, you know that?"

"Nope," Rose lied. "Because I don't." Why did Albus have to make her think of her dream with Scorpius… _Stop it!_

"And you're turning red for no reason…" Albus said sarcastically, closing his eyes.

Rose ignored him and sat down next to him.

"She seems fine," she whispered.

"I think she's trying to poison me," Albus whispered back. Rose opened her mouth to say that that was a ridiculous idea, but then she closed it again. How well did she actually _know_ Tara?

"_Tea_," Tara said, smiling brightly carrying a tray with little mugs full of tea.

Rose swallowed.

"Listen," Albus said conversationally to Rose as he took his tea from Tara. Rose looked at him. "You know Scorpius, and the bet?"

"Albus," Rose scolded, looking at Tara. She waved her hand.

"It's OK, I know about it."

"You do," Rose said through clenched teeth.

"Of course I do, silly," Tara laughed, sitting down next to Albus, who winced. "Aren't you going to drink you tea?"

Albus stared at the mug.

"Sure." He turned to Rose. "You do know that he means you, right?"

"Means me what?" Rose asked.

"U ya un," he answered through a yawn.

Rose frowned as Tara clapped her hands together.

"That's very romantic," she said. Rose saw her glare at Albus subtly. How do you do that? Glare at someone subtly, that is?

"What's romantic…?" she asked slowly.

"Your face," Albus laughed, but then he frowned. "Wait, no…"

"I'm going to the bathroom," Tara said, standing up abruptly. Rose was cringing into her mug – but she didn't want to drink anything, just in case.

Albus sighed and put his mug on the coffee table.

"Listen," he said. "Do you remember when we first saw little Scorp?"

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters," Rose recited, as if off by heart. But was allowed to do that. He was her best friend. _Duh_.

"Yeah," Albus said. "And do you remember, you hid behind me because he wouldn't stop staring at you?"

"Us," Rose corrected. "Staring at us."

Albus blinked. And then he sighed.

"Sure, Rosie," he said. "Whatever. Listen, whenever you _really_ want to talk about this, or whenever you get a certain idea through that red, frizzy hair of yours, I'm probably going to have to say I told you so."

xxx

Scorpius cursed Rose under his breath as he pulled his head out of the fireplace. Yup. He had cancelled his date. And it was all _her_ fault.

"You cancelled your date?" Rose asked, eyes wide.

Scorpius grit his teeth.

"Yup. So you owe me one."

Rose shook her head, bringing herself out of the initial shock.

"So… what do you want?" she asked, letting him into her apartment.

"What do you think?" he answered with a question, bending down to say hi to Reed. Rose raised her eyebrows, and he stood up. "Sex, of course."

Rose turned a bright red and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing seemed to be coming out.

"Not with _you_," Scorpius clarified, stepping away and trying to sound disgusted, but he was smirking on the inside. She _owed_ _him_ a couple of laughs.

He waltzed over to her sofa and sat down, patting the sofa next to him for Reed to jump up – he knew that Rose hated Reed on the furniture.

Rose frowned disapprovingly.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you owe me one."

"And not because someone might have told you that I have a date tonight."

"You do?" Scorpius asked innocently. And then he gasped. "Wait, you get sex and I don't! That's simply not fair!"

Rose threw a pillow at him.

"Ok, now it's really not fair!"

"You know, I should have killed Albus when I had the chance…" Rose muttered, going into her bedroom. To get changed, Scorpius guessed.

Let the games begin.

"Why didn't you?" Scorpius asked, patting Reed on the head before standing up and putting his finger to his lips.

"Because he and Tara were fighting," Rose said, her voice muffled. That was probably the shirt over the head.

"What about?"

Scorpius fastened his pace towards her bedroom door.

"Well," Rose started, oblivious to his change of position in the living room, "I didn't really get to know. I had to leave, you know? Tara scares me. I realized, how well do I actually _know_ her? Albus said that she was trying to poison him, so I left."

"Good choice," Scorpius muttered under his breath, bringing his wand out of his pocket. He winked at Reed, who was standing at his feet, his tail wagging so hard that his whole behind was moving with it.

Scorpius tapped the handle with his wand and turned it as fast as he could.

"Ah-hah!" he cried, and Rose stopped brushing her hair.

Dammit. She was already dressed. Where was the fun in…?

Oh.

She was… beautiful. Truly beautiful. Well, he had already known that his best friend was beautiful – you'd have to be blind not to notice – but now she was probably just trying to piss him off. Yup. That must be it. That must be why her dress barely covered her thighs, and why her freckled arms were bare, and why…

"Ha!" Rose – his best _friend_ – said triumphantly. "I knew not to trust you! So I got dressed super-fast." She stuck her tongue out at him and turned back towards the mirror, brushing her hair with vigour.

"Ha," Scorpius muttered. "Ha. Ha." Good for you. Yipidee-do-dah-dey.

"No snide comments?" Rose asked his reflection.

_Be cool_.

"Nope," Scorpius said, putting his hands in his pockets. "None at all."

"Oh," Rose said, surprised, turning around. "Alright then. Well, what are you going to do tonight?"

_Probably just crawl into a hole and die somewhere, _Scorpius thought darkly. Whoa, where did that come from? Nope. He actually couldn't think straight. Mostly he just wanted to find Aden and punch the crap out of him.

"Hey," Rose said suddenly. "Do you remember when I first – when _we_ first – The first time you saw me?"

"Sure," Scorpius answered. "I remember seeing that bizarrely colored head of yours through the crowd."

"Oh," Rose whispered. Scorpius raised a questioning eyebrow. "Just _my_ head?"

"Did I mention that it was bizarrely frizzy?"

"Yeah."

"Okay… Listen, I'm just going to take Reed out." Scorpius backed out of her bedroom, leaving her biting her lip. He had put the dog on his lead, and Reed's tale was wagging furiously again. He put his hand on the doorknob and opened it, before Rose stopped him.

"Scor, could you… Could you take Reed home with you, tonight?"

Scorpius was about to ask, 'Why on Earth would I want to do that?' But he caught her drift.

"OK. See you tomorrow."

xxx

"He slept with her," Albus said at once.

"He was drunk!" Rose argued.

Yeah. She felt betrayed, confused, lost, annoyed, angry, betrayed… and something else she didn't quite understand.

"You can't just pull that card every time, Rose!" Albus said. "He's _always_ drunk!"

"It was one time!" Rose said.

"Lily?" the both asked in unison, turning to the youngest of the trio, who had been observing her coffee quite determinedly.

"I'm with Rose," she finally muttered.

"Oh, Lils!" Albus said, staring at his sister in horror and in disgust. "You _want_ to kiss him, don't you? Well I don't! So let's just finish this thing for once and for all! I say, Rose kisses Scorpius!"

"I do _not_ want to kiss him!" Lily said, turning as red as her hair. "But he was drunk! And we can't just change the rules of the bet because you're getting nervous about winning. Or rather, loosing. If I'm going to win this, I'm going to win this right."

"But this is ridiculous," Albus said, though not denying anything, Rose noticed. "I mean, Rose, what is your plan exactly? It's been a week! I mean, no wonder he broke!"

"I have a plan, thank you very much," Rose said. She _always_ had a plan.

Just not this time.

"But I've told Aden that Scorpius isn't gay, that it was just an ill-humored joke. The party is on Wednesday, and I'll have Scorpius up and ready by then. And, I'll make sure he doesn't drink."

"I bet you will," Albus said. "How do you know that he was drunk anyways?"

"Georgina told me."

"Georgina… told you," Lily repeated slowly. "Meaning you _spoke_ with Georgina Davis. The porno star."

"The underwear model," Rose corrected quickly. "And she's really very nice. I don't think that those porno rumors were true in the least."

Albus snorted. "Sure you don't."

"I don't!" Rose said, turning slightly pink. Albus was about to snort again when Rose had had enough. "Now, if you don't quite mind I have more than one life to save!"

"I thought that it was your break," Lily said.

"My break's over!"

"In three minutes?" Albus asked, bemused.

"If you had a job you'd know what it was like!"

"Ouch," he muttered.

Rose stormed off. She thought that it was going quite well, before she walked into that one wizard with Demon Pox, that is.

As soon as she was in her office, she closed the door behind her and brought out her phone.

"Aden? Yeah, it's me. Do you have any friends that wouldn't mind a blind date?"


End file.
